As Tim Worstall reminds us, the niece of the late Countess of Longford has just been elected to the deputy leadership of the Labour Party. She defeated a former postman who was orphaned at 12 and left school at 15. Up the workers!
Wet but wonderful! This was the rainy start of our 22 mile bicycle ride round the boundary of Camden and through every ward to publicise the problems cyclists face every day. Organised by Lib Dem Councillor Paul Braithwaite, and co-sponsored by the Camden Cycling Campaign and the Camden Sustainability Task Force, the other simple aim was to have fun, which we certainly did.
As a service to our Scottish readers, we pass on this story from the BBC: Kilt wearers could face prosecution if they do not have a licence for their sporran under new legislation which has been introduced in Scotland.
Another Liberal Democrat blogger has commented that it would churlish not to congratulate Harriet Harman on her surprise elevation to Deputy Leader, narrowly beating former postman Alan Johnson in the fifth round (50.4% versus 49.6%), indeed Liberal Democrats should be deeply delighted. She is not the candidate that wows us with her credibility or broad voter appeal. It would also be churlish not to commiserate with the moderate-wing of the Labour party who appear to have been landed with the result, largely on the late switch preferences of the hard-left candidate Jon Cruddas. Harman herself is a bit of ...
Here is another in my occasional series of English curiosities: an inland lighthouse from Lincolnshire. 
Manning and Waldheim both died while I was away on holiday. One was a performer who enjoyed fame in the 1970s but whose racist views put him increasingly beyond the pale. The other was a distinguished comedian and club-owner.
The A levels are done, written and sent, its all over, the summer beckons. In other news, I ve had a rather nasty cold/flu (it was somewhere inbetween) recently which I suppose is a quite valid excuse for my lacking in recent posts. But the plague has left and I feel rather, well, liberated, which is cool. I'm pleased and re-assured by Ming's recent e-mail to the party, forging an independent and strong identity while portraying New Labour and the Tories as one and the same is a strong strategy that can stand up to inspection (part of the spikey ...
Well, Harriet Harman is a Yorkie, and a woman. I've always had a sneaking regard for her but it will be interesting to see if she is up to the challenge.
Brilliant title. Five days late, I am afraid. Sorry. Potential Glee Club material though perhaps? I know, someone has already thought of it (surely?)
I wonder what Sainsbury's mean by their strapline "Try Something Different Today" A drunken riot or an orgy perhaps ? P.S. Everyone should read the first comment here. Very enlightening indeed about Sainsbury's management ethos in Sainsbury's.
I blogged late last night about the Ipsos MORI poll in The Observer. At the time I couldn't find the dates of the interviews for this poll, on either the Observer or the Ipsos MORI sites. Now (having in the meantime made a trip to Weymouth to see my precious child running in the rain and swimming in the cold sea, and myself conducting an impromptu Buster Keaton-style trick with a plank of wood (
Hazel. Blears. Last. Evil chortle. I told two Labour party members a few nights ago that the reason they weren't voting Blears was because they were too middle-class and don't understand ordinary working people. I wasn't sure whether I was joking or not, but it does seem that even the Labour party felt that going "Nuts for Hazel" was too camp for comedy... Now, I have only one request. Mr Saxon, PLEASE can we get Blears OFF THE TV????
The Observer shows a photo of Gordon and Sarah Brown outside Number Ten, with the caption: "..will finally move into their new home later this week." That would be Number Eleven Downing Street would it? Or are they staying in Number Ten (flat over), where they have lived for years? The Observer covers the likely options for Brown during his first month in office, eager to impress with a "fresh
This week's selection of the best in British blogging comes to you live from, er, Belgium. Thanks to Redemption Blues.
It would be churlish not to congratulate Harriet Harman upon her election as Deputy Leader of the Labour party. The final round of voting was a knife-edge contest between her and Alan Johnson. Harman has a very long record of political experience and has weathered a number of storms, not least being married to the Treasurer of the Labour Party during the recent financial controversies. So, it 
Chris Dakers hosted his annual summer lunch at the family’s beautiful 17th century house in Brentford today. With the LibDems down at 15% in the latest opinion poll, in The Observer, and Ming Campbell’s personal rating as putative Prime Minister well below that, one might have thought that the mood among local party members and supporters would be [...]
Lest I be accused of denigrating Jon Cruddas, it has to be said that he has emerged as one of the true victors of the Labour deputy leadership contest. To come third, even if not within the membership college, was a real achievement for a candidate who has never had ministerial experience. Reading Brown’s speech, he [...]
Of course, the real reason why the Lib Dem city council distributed wheelie bins throughout Oxford was as part of our ‘recycling revolution’. But the people of Headington are an inventive and subversive lot, as befits this Arezzo to Oxford city’s Florence. So it was wholly in character that one of the highlights of yesterday’s Highfield Residents’ Association should be that newest of traditions,
One of the most remarkable things about the Labour Party is why it persists with an internal electoral system that has served it so badly. We can all remember the scandalous 2000 selection for a Mayoral candidate when Ken Livingstone won overwhelmingly amongst the membership but was blocked by a combination of the MPs [...]
MP's, bloggers, politicians, journalists, The Daily Mail and anyone with the slightest hint of paranoia about them has it it for the BBC these days. The Corporation's wish to have a 24 hour news service to rival that of CNN and Sky has often been ridiculed by these people who claim that there is no need for a state run news channel when we have alternative media groups who will do the job. However, Sky news today showed us exactly why we need the BBC. In what was a clear attempt to embarrass the BBC and show how useless ...
I claim no expertise in foreign affairs but I can sense that the situation in Sudan is deteriorating ever further. Even though Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has agreed unconditionally to a joint U...
John Walker has written an open letter to Russell T. Davies, executive producer for the revived Doctor Who, about his involvement with the programme. And after watching last night's episode (The Sound of Drums), I couldn't agree more.
We’ve launched our on-line petition against Manchester’s present road congestion charging plan at: www.burysaysno.com The link also outlines our worries and concerns. Public transport is in dire need of developing – we caught the 135 bus along the quality bus corridor on Friday evening to attend the Silver Jubilee celebration of Bury Gateway Club. Our 24hr 135 Bury to Manchester bus service stops
Commentators are saying Alan Johnston should feel robbed, but no. Not only was the counting method as fair as you can get under Labour’s bizarre system of ‘one person, potentially several votes, some worth a thousand times as much as others’, but there’s another failed candidate who has every right to feel peeved – not with the electoral system, but the voters. Harriet Harman is a vain, pontificating, hypocritical opportunist who won by saying anything to get elected, despite her actions in government… So tangerine-toned turncoat Peter Hain must be crying, ‘It should have been me!’ Tragically, he was annihilated ...
The Lib Dems' core principles include opposition to conformity and ignorance. I suggest we had better all read Ed Husain's new book The Islamist published by Penguin last month. It is his story - at times a deeply personal memoir - and much more besides. The early chapters of the book centre on places I know quite well: Limehouse and Whitechapel. The author was born in Mile End, east London, in the mid-1970s. His childhood was spent in Limehouse. It was happy at first, but his parents believed in single-sex schooling, and ...
I have received further complaints about the graffiti mess at Seabraes (see photos below). Many residents have commented positively about the viewing platforms that were opened in the fairly recent past. It is a real pity that they have been subject to this sort of mindless vandalism and I think it is important that, not only do the Police take a proactive approach in tackling this, but that SET and the City Council quickly arrange removal of any graffiti. Otherwise it becomes a permanent eyesore and local residents have called me complaining about the mess. I firstly e-mailed ...
Ray and Trevor promised to keep you in touch with isssues affecting Ryemead .The first Focus leaflet is being delivered through doors now. Be part of our recent success and part of a growing team. By Joining ,making a donation or helping with Focus delivery you can help our cause no end. Your continued support will [...]
Against all expectations and Guido’s tip, it turns out that Harriet Harman has trumped Alan Johnson by 50.4 to 49.6 of the vote. Sky News had been reporting Johnson as the winner for a long time before it was announced. Has anyone seen the full breakdown of preferences and transfers? My guess would be that Johnson [...]
Well, nearly - as you can see from this new photo of that sign at Finsbury Park station: {Finsbury Park station sign}
By my watch, Sky beat the BBC to reporting the result of the Labour Deputy Leadership election by 32 minutes (and possibly longer - Iain Dale says an hour, but I wasn’t watching Sky for that long, so possibly their “breaking” news was just recycled news). Only one slight problem. They were reporting the wrong winner [...]
Source this week, here in lovely old lincoln, a planned concert for The Feeling along with one for Marti Pellow, at Lincoln castle was Cancelled, because the County Council, which owns and operates the castle, did not fill in the necessary paperwork needed for the event to take place. Now, this is unfortunate for all the fans of The Feeling here in lincoln, who will not get to see the band, well all except me :) thats because last week i went to see the Feeling at Delemare Forest in Cheshire. i wasnt a really big ...
Well, the BBC have given away the result of the Labour Deputy Leadership election, but it’s still fun to watch the results announced - there seemed to be an air of relief across the hall accompanied by a (larger than you’d expect if they were just being polite) round of applause when it was announced [...]
Denbies Vineyard near Dorking is one of those surprises that this country sometimes throws at you. Can England really produce high quality wine? The site was identified because it is geologically identical to the Champagne region, with the same protective configuration of hills and slopes. I suppose the question would always remain around the climate, but recent changes have acted in its favour....
Welcome to the 18th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (17th - 23rd June), together with a hand-picked quintet you might otherwise have missed. Down to business… 1. ‘Lib Dems to join Brown cabinet?’ by Stephen Tall on Lib Dem Voice. Reporting [...]
Last September I met the new intake of students to the Pathway programme at Kingston College. So it was great to return again last week to their Graduation ceremony. A high proportion had stuck to the course and made real achievements - acknowledged by the presence of the Mayor and four former mayors. The students had held a raffle in aid of Young Kingston and presented me with a...
The documents which are going to the Mayor and Cabinet this Thursday are on the Lewisham Council website. I am naturally very disappointed that officers are recommending the Church Grove site for the travellers' relocation. As I said in a previous blog entry, that site is unsuitable, on three main grounds: - access. The only access to the site is through Church Grove which is narrow at the best of times, and worse when cars are parked. I really cannot see how the site could be safely and quickly reached by fire engine and ambulances ...
Everyone else is playing the 'who's up, who's down' game ahead of Gordon announcing the new membership of Team Brown... so I thought I'd join in: Prime Minister: Gordon Brown Deputy PM: Jack Straw Chancellor: Alastair Darling Home Secretary: Alan Johnson Justice Minister: Jack Straw Foreign Secretary: David Miliband Health Secretary: Caroline Flint Education Secretary: Hilary Benn Work &
M’Lords Carlisle and Lester are in the running to replace the egregious Lord Goldsmith as Attorney General… … according to that most reliable of news sources, the Sunday Mirror.
I was very glad to read that Gordon Brown will lift the restrictions on protesting in Parliament square. The issue was highlighted in Taking Liberties, and in particular by the case of Brian Haw. Hopefully this is indicative of a more liberal approach under Brown, but I have a strong suspicion that it's a single symbolic gesture. We can but hope.
This is from the excellent Time Trumpet on the BBC. No wonder the Tories dislike the BBC so much.
For me, every new speech by David Cameron brings an intense sense of deja vu. It’s commonplace that the Cameron Conservative strategy is based on a detailed study of how Tony Blair and New Labour seized the centre ground and won elections. However, it’s increasingly clear that what Cameron has borrowed from Blair is not [...]
Yesterday I went to the British reception of Miranda and Shaun's wedding. The wedding took place in May in Florida, hence my trip there. It seems an awfully long time ago but I am sure it wasn't.
There is a really interesting article in The Times today about how Cameron appears to have given up on the middle ground for fear of annoying the Tory right wing and now looks like he may embark again on a right wing anti Europe campaign. Michael Portillo sees this as a doomed strategy which will allow Gordon Brown to hold the centre ground and marginalise the Tories for a number of years. The whole article can be found HERE, but the end of the article says it all: "We have been here before. Hague started as leader ...
It is a genuine delight to wake up on the day of my first barbecue of the summer to see it pouring down outside. And to add to what will doubtless be a day of many drips, I am leafleting in an hour - distributing papier mache with my barely-discernable face on it through the doors of Prestwich. For once, today only, I'm with the "Sunday as day of rest" people. Rick
After their failure to make any impression in the elections, the Greens are debating whether they should dissolve themselves. In France.
The Times has a detailed round up today of how Thales, one of the arms firms set to benefit from the dropping of the Al Yamamah corruption probe, rented flats owned by the Blairs via a family trust. Whilst the SFO inquiry into Al Yamamah was axed in Britain, The Times goes on to point out that the SFO [...]
It is well known that Republican run States have pushed for greater use of the most complex ballot papers and electronic voting systems because the Republicans know that people they would call white "trailer trash", who mostly vote Democrat, are more likely to spoil their ballot papers by mistake because they are confused how to fill in their ballot papers. Indeed, it has been argued that the 2% plus of the vote not counted in Ohio at the last presidential election could have tipped the state back to the Democrats had the votes been counted manually. So it really should ...
Following the recent Court of Appeal decision it is good to see a number of Lib Dems taking part in a campaign to keep up pressure on the government as witnessed by this letter in Saturday's Guardian.
After all the brouhaha over Mr Brown's attempts to create a government of all the talents (just some talent would be a bonus), it's surely time to turn to the key question: who is out as Gordon comes in? Which politicians are going to be clearing their pencils from their desk and bidding a final farwell to the ministry concierge? And who, it might be added, may even now be sitting by their phone, biting their fingernails away in expectation of that call which never comes? Presumably Pope Benedict will lose his place as a photo on a ministerial ...
The relationship between the Wales on Sunday and various internet sites is getting more and more incestuous. It is just that blogs and social networking sites like Facebook are such good sources of stories. Today for example, the paper catches up with David Davies MP and his blog item on why foreigners should be charged for using the NHS. David concludes that we should insist that absolutely everyone arriving here from outside of the EU, should be in receipt of a verifiable health insurance document which could be checked by immigration officials. Later on in the paper there ...
Friday 22nd June 2007 - The situation of the ethnic Uighur Chinese nationals languishing at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base or dumped in Tirana, Albania, is a shocking example of what comes of unrestrained U.S. presidential power and contempt for international law. The 22 Uighurs who ended up as prisoners in Guantánamo Bay were among the hundreds of ordinary, young men in the wrong place at the wrong
The Sunday People is carrying a piece on how residents on the Aylesbury Estate in Walworth turned their community around. Click here
The Independent reveals government papers which show that Blair planned, in detail, to sack Brown and break up the Treasury, after the last election. One warning though: the plan seem to have involved John Birt - so no wonder it didn't go ahead. But seriously, the detail of this planning - including draft speaking notes for the announcement and a profile of qualities the new chancellor should | < | June 2007 | > | ||||
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